E3: Ubisoft courts ‘tween girl gamers

Ubisoft’s got an interesting strategy going on. The company continues to put out big titles like the upcoming Prince of Persia game that thrills the hardcore, largely male audience.

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Ubisoft’s Tony Key

But the company is really gearing up to sell a lot of games to girls, who have been historically overlooked by the big gaming publishers. Ubi unveiled a new sports line for ‘tween girls called Ener-G at E3 this year. The first three games revolve around dancing, gymnastics and horse riding. This is in addition to the Imagine series, a line up of games that allow girls to play as movie starts, fashion designers, teachers and baby sitters.

I sat down and talked with Tony Key, senior vice president of marketing for Ubisoft in America. He said research has found that among Nintendo DS owners under the age of 15, half are female. Many are already drifting toward some of Ubisoft’s female friendly game like the Petz line, but there is still a big potential for more sales, he said.

“There’s still a lot of blue water out there for games for girls,” Key said. “And in five year from now we’ll have 19-year-old women who’ve been playing since they were 14.”

It’s part of Ubisoft’s larger casual strategy. Last year, the company had hoped to pull in 20 percent of its revenue from casual games but it quickly surpassed that, hitting 25 percent. The company continues to see opportunities in providing people with different experiences that address a variety of wants and needs.

The latest example is a My SAT Coach game, a new collaboration with Princeton Review, that follows in the footsteps of other coach games such as My Weight Loss Coach and My Spanish Coach. DS owners will be able to get SAT prep drills and reviews on their DS as they prepare for what could be the biggest test of their lives.

“It’s a fun way of breaking the monotony of practicing for the SAT,” Key said. “It’s a real opportunity for us to fill a void.”

Key said Ubisoft is still committed to hardcore gamers but it plans on leading the charge to expand the gamer market. “That’s the future of the industry: finding new gamers,” he said.